Judge Avern Cohn ruled that the plaintiffs in the case, four Muslim Americans who were all detained and questioned each time they crossed the U.S.-Canada border, had demonstrated that the agencies had a policy of questioning Muslim Americans entering the country, appeared to violate equal protection under the Fifth Amendment.

The lawsuit alleges Muslim Americans were singled out and asked questions like which mosque they go to, how often they pray and who their religious leader is.

Before filing the lawsuit, lawyers for the plaintiffs wrote to the Department of Homeland Security’s Civil Liberties and Civil Rights division, which wrote back they had received numerous similar complaints and were investigating, but no follow-up was received.

“This case presents an issue of first impression that, to the court’s knowledge, has never been addressed by another court in the nation. In short, the question before the court is whether the government has unfettered discretion to question at the border a specific class of individuals about their religious practices and beliefs after being profiled and detained solely because of those religious practices and beliefs,” Cohn wrote in his order (posted here).

Because the plaintiffs were able to show a policy that singled out a religious group without rational basis, Cohn held, it was a violation of the “implied equal protection guarantee” of the due process rights in the Fifth Amendment.

The judge did dismiss a First Amendment claim in the lawsuit, that the plaintiff’s free exercise of religion was impeded. Cohn said that the only thing that was restricted was their ability to freely cross the border, not practice of any of their religious beliefs.

The lawsuit asks the judge to order the agencies to end any policy of questioning Muslims about their religious beliefs, as well seeking attorney’s fees and cost.

"We are pleased that this important case will move forward and those who faced unlawful government questioning about their religious beliefs will continue to have their day in court," Gadeir Abbas, an attorney for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which is a co-counsel in the case, said in a statement.